Do maple necks get more stable with age?

[2020Jazz]

Cheerios! I've owned my 2020 Jazz w maple neck since April, when I had it set up by a pro shop. The heat and humidity here in the southeast of the US would kill off most of you guys, and a week or so ago a cold front rolled thru and sucked the heat and humidity right out to sea with it. Instant fret buzz. I'm taking it apart this week and surmise a 1/4 turn off the truss rod will sort it out.

 

So what I'm asking you guys who have bought basses new and kept them a long time, do they get better with age? Seems like the wood would season, or something.

 

?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I've owned my maple-necked 81 precision from new and still have to do a bi-annual trussrod tweak to keep it usable.

[WinterMute]

My Geddy Lee Jazz needed occasional tweaking seasonally, but none of the MM SR5's or the Bongo ever seem to move.

 

My wenge/bubinga Thumb got set up once a decade...

[Reggaebass]

My 1998 Precision with maple needs retuning occasionally but otherwise very stable 

[2020Jazz]

30 minutes ago, WinterMute said:

My Geddy Lee Jazz needed occasional tweaking seasonally, but none of the MM SR5's or the Bongo ever seem to move.

 

My wenge/bubinga Thumb got set up once a decade...

MIA, MIJ, or MIM Geddy Lee? Mine's MIA.

[SteveK]

I've had a maple P bass since '72. Apart from when changing string gauge, have never had to make any serious adjustments. I would doubt humidity would make much difference to a lacquered maple neck. Extreme heat though, may well cause problems and necessitate adjustments.

Edited September 27, 2021 by SteveK

[WinterMute]

Mine was MIJ I think, it's long gone as I went back to 5 string.

 

Lovely bass though.

[gafbass02]

My MiJ Geddy Lee needed tweaking every five minutes, and any stingray or Ibanez soundgear I’ve owned too. But otherwise I’ve never had them move around much. My mij fender ‘trigger’s broom’ neck has had virtually no attention ever. 

[2020Jazz]

8 hours ago, SteveK said:

I've had a maple P bass since '72. Apart from when changing string gauge, have never had to make any serious adjustments. I would doubt humidity would make much difference to a lacquered maple neck. Extreme heat though, may well cause problems and necessitate adjustments.

Of note, only the fretboard of a MIA Geddy is sealed.

Neck Finish

Hand Rubbed Oil on Back, Gloss Urethane on Front

[Cliff Edge]

On 27/09/2021 at 15:55, 2020Jazz said:

Cheerios! I've owned my 2020 Jazz w maple neck since April, when I had it set up by a pro shop. The heat and humidity here in the southeast of the US would kill off most of you guys, and a week or so ago a cold front rolled thru and sucked the heat and humidity right out to sea with it. Instant fret buzz. I'm taking it apart this week and surmise a 1/4 turn off the truss rod will sort it out.

 

So what I'm asking you guys who have bought basses new and kept them a long time, do they get better with age? Seems like the wood would season, or something.

 

?

I think the answer is yes, and not due to age or seasoning. 
My 72 jazz only needs a slight truss rod tweak if I change string gauge and/or move to lower tension strings. 

The build quality of the instrument may make a difference I suppose. 

[Bassfinger]

22 hours ago, gafbass02 said:

My MiJ Geddy Lee needed tweaking every five minutes

My MIM Geddy Lee is rock solid, beyond initial set up never needed to touch it.  I was a bit concerned at first because of the slim neck, but my worries have proven unfounded.

 

Ditto my Ibanez PJ, Fender Precision, Squier Precision, Harley Benton's and Hofners.

[NancyJohnson]

On 27/09/2021 at 15:55, 2020Jazz said:

The heat and humidity here in the southeast of the US would kill off most of you guys, and...

 

Lol.  You probably think it's foggy all the time here too, eh?

[2elliot]

On 27/09/2021 at 16:37, WinterMute said:

 

 

My wenge/bubinga Thumb got set up once a decade...

Same with my old Thumb. The neck was remarkable.

[StickyDBRmf]

I live in the world of "check the truss, then tune." because I play the Chapman Stick. But, I was always a Truss Twisting Guy. It's not something to be afraid of, get used to it, or take yer basses to the luthier every time the wind blows.

What's the worst thing that can happen? Write down where you start, if it's no good, go back.

[T-Bay]

If you want to see the effect of rapid changes in temperature, put a scrap neck in a hot car for an hour and take a look. Our lead guitarist did it with his main guitar a couple of years back and it was frightening how much it moved in such a short time. It took a couple of weeks and a good tweaks for it to settle but is ok now thankfully. Changes in weather won’t cause such rapid changes but I bet they are quick enough to have significant effect.

[2020Jazz]

6 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Lol.  You probably think it's foggy all the time here too, eh?

I've been there.

[Downunderwonder]

6 hours ago, T-Bay said:

If you want to see the effect of rapid changes in temperature, put a scrap neck in a hot car for an hour and take a look. Our lead guitarist did it with his main guitar a couple of years back and it was frightening how much it moved in such a short time. It took a couple of weeks and a good tweaks for it to settle but is ok now thankfully. Changes in weather won’t cause such rapid changes but I bet they are quick enough to have significant effect.

Should have left it under the bed for two weeks. Those tweaks would have been 1 to fix it, then another to put it back where it was at the start.

[Hellzero]

Heat and humidity affect neck (and body too) stability as it's wood, so adjusting the truss rod is totally normal. And the more seasoned, the less wood will be affected, but this process can take decades if not centuries...

 

Here is a weird true story.

 

To check his guitar building stability and glue strength, Robert Taylor said he always put a guitar in its case in the trunk of his car in plain sun in the desert for a few hours. If it doesn't move, this means that he has attained his goal : a bloody stable and almost indestructible instrument also proving he's using high quality seasoned woods and top notch glue and gluing process.

[Bassfinger]

10 hours ago, T-Bay said:

If you want to see the effect of rapid changes in temperature, put a scrap neck in a hot car for an hour and take a look. Our lead guitarist did it with his main guitar a couple of years back and it was frightening how much it moved in such a short time. It took a couple of weeks and a good tweaks for it to settle but is ok now thankfully. Changes in weather won’t cause such rapid changes but I bet they are quick enough to have significant effect.

Thats my why studio ismin a room with a fairly stable temperature and the door kept closed, and I don't leave them in hot cars, and why they travel between warm house and cool outdoors - and back - in hard cases.  As a result I never need to touch my truss rods after initial stringing and setup.

[tegs07]

The Yamaha attitude basses look like the neck would survive a nuclear blast and still remain true. 
Ive never had an issue with maple necks but live in the UK. Once on a trip through Death Valley the heat caused the neck of a friends guitar to warp and the wood on the body started to separate. Took months and a very experienced luthier to sort it out.

[warwickhunt]

Assuming we are talking about a neck made from wood, properly seasoned neck from a reputable company, then a neck shouldn't need more than the odd truss rod tweak to compensate for environmental changes or set up/string gauge changes.  Necks can and do continue to season/change and react to their environment as they are a natural material but referring to my first point IF they are well seasoned in the first place, all of the vagaries of wood structure changes should have happened.  You also need to factor in that some necks have carbon rod inserts, multi-laminate construction to support each other etc.  

Saying all of that... the slimmer the neck (especially one piece necks) the more likely it is to be affected by temperature/humidity changes and need tweaks.  I had a top drawer USA Sadowsky with a very thin neck which infuriated me as it didn't need much of an excuse to flex and need fettling.  I will stress that I had the bass set up with a silly low action and the neck never ever twisted or reacted in any way other than to bow/flatten which could be tweaked with the truss rod wheel (the best tweakers invention ever).  Conversely, some of my Warwick basses (not particularly thick necked at all) with laminate bubinga/wenge construction have never budged in 30 years... unless I've gone for a big change in string tension (and even then sometimes no change).  

In 100 years your neck might have developed further but it still shouldn't affect set up... now 'tonal' change is a different can of worms.  LOL

[Muzz]

I've got a Shuker with a neck I had made to match one of my other Shukers in terms of size (verrrry slim) - it occasionally needs a tweak, but the original never does. I've accepted that as a small price to pay for a very slim neck profile. The one which needs a tweak has a maple board, the original's ebony, but I'm not convinced that's the defining factor - the original is also 6 or 7 years older than the newer one...

 

My Dingwall, on the other hand, is all maple, and hasn't moved a thou in at least a decade.

[LeftyJ]

For me it depends on the bass. I had a Stingray 5 that could be very sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, but that stopped when I had the neck lightly sanded and a new coat of oil applied by a luthier. It appeared to seal the wood better and really improved stability. I also have a few fully lacquered maple necks that never move at all. The most stable of my wooden-necked basses is my Ellio Martina with a maple / purple heart laminated neck, maple fingerboard and lacquer finish. The least stable one I currently own is my 20 year old Carvin LB75 with a black gloss lacquered maple neck and abony board. It moves at the slightest change.

 

Though to be fair, over the course of the last few weeks we had a fairly drastic change in weather here in the Netherlands, and I've had to tune nearly all my guitars and basses down a semitone to get them back in tune . Especially the acoustics responded to the change.

[warwickhunt]

I've no science to back me up here but my personal experience and common sense indicates that the lighter the neck wood is (weight/density) the more it seems to flex with changes BUT so long as it is good quality timbre it flexes within the tolerances that the truss rod can take up.  

Edited September 29, 2021 by warwickhunt

[NancyJohnson]

9 hours ago, 2020Jazz said:

I've been there.

 

Off topic:  During one of our overlong US road trips we rested up for a couple of days in a guest house in North Conway, NH; the house had a big communal lounge where upon one evening we were approached by an engaging elderly American chap (I can see him distinctly; baseball cap with some warship emblazoned on the front, comfy shorts, walking shoes, chequered pastel coloured cotton shirt, socks pulled up mid-shin), who had heard us talking and asked where we were from - not wanting to get down to specifics, we just said we lived about 45 minutes west of central London. 

 

He actually said, 'London fog' out loud and asked us how we coped with it.  Honestly didn't have a clue what he was on about, I recall my mum talking about the smog of her youth but that was about it.  We said that well, atmospheric conditions aside, London isn't really any more foggy than anywhere else, but he was insistent and his line of enquiry went more or less, 'No you have it wrong, it's foggy all the time and you don't know what you're talking about.'

 

At least he didn't ask me whether I knew his grandmother or anything.  She probably lived in the other street.

 

Anyhow, back on topic now.

Edited September 29, 2021 by NancyJohnson